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Oklahoma’s jobless rate dips to lowest level in nearly 6 years

OKLAHOMA CITY – The state’s jobless rate last month dropped to 4.5 percent – the lowest it’s been in nearly six years. Oklahoma’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate improved a whole percentage point since June 2013.

Gov. Mary Fallin said the drop is proof that the Oklahoma’s pro-growth policies are working.

“Creating jobs has been my number one priority,” said Fallin. “By embracing pro-growth policies like tax cuts, reining in the size of government, and reducing the regulatory burden on job creators, Oklahoma’s economy has gotten back on the right track.”

Oklahoma added 9,600 employed persons last month, according to seasonally adjusted data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. June’s rate was down from 4.6 percent in May and April.

About 102,300 jobs have been added in Oklahoma since Fallin took office in January 2011, the governor’s office said in a release issued this week.

“Oklahoma’s unemployment rate, which reached highs of over 7 percent in 2010, is the lowest it’s been since November 2008 when the rate was 4.3 percent,” the release states.

Oklahoma had one of the largest rises in employment in the nation for June, a 0.6 percent increase over the month. Oklahoma tied Indiana, North Dakota and Washington, D.C., for the largest increase in employment over the month.

Oklahoma’s monthly gain in new jobs is the third-highest in the past 10 years; the highest monthly employment gain during that period also occurred during Fallin’s tenure as governor, between February and March 2011.

The state in June added jobs in all sectors, with the largest increase in the trade, transportation and utilities sector with 3,100 new jobs.

Oklahoma’s total of 1,665,800 nonfarm jobs represented 33,900 more jobs, or a 2.1 percent gain, from June 2013.

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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